I have been reading these forums for sometime with great interest, in fact this forum is the reason I've deviced on a Bravo over a Laser or Sunfish. I have only ever sailed a Laser and Laser 2 so I'm excited for a quick easy set up for the Haliburton, ON cottage.

So now that I have introduced myself, I have two questions.

1) I intend to buy a Bravo on the way to the cottage and not move it ever again. Because of that, I'm not really interested in buying a trailer. So I guess my question is, how does a boat come when you buy it? Is it in a box, or already assembled? I can borrow a Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel, and I was hoping that I could somehow cartop the hull and throw the rest in the back. Has anyone ever done this or have any advice?

2) This is more a storage question. Is the Bravo light enough that if I take down the mast that it could be easily moved by myself and my girlfriend? i.e. lifting the boat out of the lake while standing on the dock (so as to not void the warranty or damange the boat by simply tying it to the dock).

If you're going to Haliburton, I'm assuming that you'll be buying from Fogh Marine in Toronto. I believe they have a system where they will deliver the boat to your cottage for a small fee. You should ask them about that. I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that they offer this service.

If you're going to Haliburton, I'm assuming that you'll be buying from Fogh Marine in Toronto. I believe they have a system where they will deliver the boat to your cottage for a small fee. You should ask them about that. I may be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure that they offer this service.

I was planning on getting it at quiet waters because I like their website better and they seem like a nice dutch family. Maybe I should look at fogh marine then. Still, I think it would be easier to just bring it myself if possible rather than inconvenience anyone else.

Bought mine new thru the internet. It was shipped in a box to the local warehouse. I had to pick it up. Used a 1/2 ton pickup truck with the tailgate down. Used lots of straps and made the 25 mile trek home pretty easy.

I wouldn't talk you out of going to the dealer of your preference. Fogh has been great to me at times, and average at other times. Never bad. But if you prefer another dealer, I wouldn't say that you have to go to Fogh. As far as the boat, I'm not the best guy to ask about that. I have seen the Bravo, and I'd assume that you could lift it out of the water yourself. You'd have to drag it along the dock, but it's pretty tough and could probably take that.

Other then that, I'm not a Bravo expert, so hopefully someone else can answer your questions more accurately then I can.

I would NOT car-top it - first, many cartop racks have weight limits of less than 100 lbs - and the Bravo is a pretty heavy little beast (relative to the smaller monohull boats). I'd either find a friend with a full-sized pickup (mine fit perfectly in the bed of my Silverado) - or else, rent a small utility trailer 5' x 8' would be perfect?

The boat alone is maybe 140 lbs.... And lifting it up on a dock might be a challenge for 2 people to do, even with the mast removed. Can you build a rack to pull it up onto?? Something that will keep it high enough to not float away - but low enough to make pulling it upwards a little bit easier?? That way it can be rigged and ready to go at a moment's notice - something the Bravo does better than ANY boat out there!!

Bought my Bravo 3 weeks ago from Quiet Waters from the son, Wim, at the Hwy#11 location which is on our way to the lake just N of Huntsville. I liked their website and 1st saw the Bravo there which led to finding the great posts here too. Met both Wim and a salesman from Fogh at the Toronto boat show last winter too - both were knowledeable about the range of small boats on the market and very enthusiastic about the Bravo! I was very happy with the service from Quiet Waters; they have rental trailers but we put it in the pickup truck and brought it to the lake. Their 14 day exchange or refund policy gave me peace of mind since I have pondered for years about which boat would be best for our steep site on the west side of the lake where the wind is often blocked by the hills behind us, then gets changeable and gusty further out.

The handles are great & I can pull the boat (with mast) up on our wide floating dock alone. I often just tie it up to the other dock though so we can be sailing in the minute it takes to hook up the mainsheet and furl the sail!

The Bravo setup manual on this website discusses car-topping the Bravo and has some specific cautions about the rack system, etc.. I would recommend either renting one of Quiet Waters' trailers or just borrowing or renting a pickup for a weekend (invite a buddy up who has one?). Good luck, you'll love the boat!

Bought my Bravo 3 weeks ago from Quiet Waters from the son, Wim, at the Hwy#11 location which is on our way to the lake just N of Huntsville.

Thank you very much for the replies, especially from someone who sounds like they are doing the exact same thing as me. Maybe I will be renting the trailer, it seems like a good solution I didn't know they had. Only problem with that is getting it back on holiday Monday with all the hectic traffic. Probably a game time decision whether to go to Fogh or Quiet Waters.

Also that relieves me knowing you can lift it out of the water, I may just leave it in over the weekends but while I'm not there during the week, I'm happy knowing i could just take it out.

mistablair, I'd suggest calling soon to check stock and reserve a boat (& trailer if going that way). You're going to have a great weekend!

BTW, I adjusted the mainsheet camcleat upwards from the way it came assembled (as some sailors mentionned in their posts and as described in the manual) and like that it's easier to release for reefing the sail on approach to the dock or to depower in gusts (it's still faster to veer upwind though if really close to going for a swim).

at Quiet Waters Sailboat they do provide a trailer ad that can be returned within a reasonable amount of days. They also deliver and probably charge less than Fogh because they are closer to huntsville. They still have a few Bravo's in stock.